DWP done deductions from earnings without contacting us help

A question about : DWP done deductions from earnings without contacting us help

My husband got paid today and received Ј20 less in his weekly wage and didnt know why. When he questioned his work they said it was because of a deductions from earnings as instructed by the DWP and gave him the contact details for them as he knew nothing about it.
When he rang them they said it was issued because of a supposed budgeting loan that he got in 2006 for Ј620. We cant recall this debt at all so he questioned it and they said he would have to ring a different number for the details. He rang these and all they would tell him is the same information and said if he wanted to dispute it he needs to send a sae to an address and they will post him some proof however the deductions order still stands.
He questioned that they have never contacted him about this and they said they had - on the letter they had an address which was a care of address for a house he lived in 13 years ago!he has moved a few times since then and we have lived in our house for 7 years where we have claimed working tax credit at some point so the dwp must have his address on file somewhere.
My question is what can we do about this? They refused to cancel the deductions even if it is disputed but our argument is they have not made any effort to contact us. When i have looked online it says they have to contact you and also give you an option to pay back what you can afford (if you agree to the debt which at the minute we dont). Also, arent these type of debts statute barred?
We really cant afford to lose Ј80 a month out of our wages times are really bad at the minute anyway but i dont know how to fight it can anyone help???
The dwp said it is a new thing doing deductions and they have only started it these past few months

Best answers:

• they obviously did make an effort to contact,dwp and hmrc are separate depts,is it likely he had a loan in 2006,was he on benefits then?
• Debts to DWP don't become statute barred the same as other debts, after 6 years they can't take court action but (as you have found out!) they can keep a record of the debt and then take it from other benefits you claim.
  x
• They havent tried to contact us as i stated because if they did they would find him, the address they are saying they sent correspondence to is not the address we lived at when there saying he took out the loan. He was on job seekers for a short period of time in 2006 but not when they are saying the loan was took out. And i know they can recover the money from future benefits after 6 years however we arent claiming any benefits at all
• but he may well do so again in the future and then they could/would take the money at a time it was difficult to pay,maybe come to an agreement now is the best plan UNLESS you can prove the money was never borrowed?
• I agree. It's not good enough to say you don't remember borrowing the Ј600. That sounds like someone trying to get out of it but can't bring themselves to outright lie and deny it.
  He remembers.
• The last address they had would have been the last address he claimed jsa at which wasnt the one they have apparently sent the correspondence to which is what ive said, he didnt even claim jsa at that particular address so i dont know where they have that from. When he has rang them they cant give him any information other than a rough date of when it supposedly was. All i asked was for some advice not to get slated by everyone here and to get attitude, i am actually really concerned by this and me and my family are generally struggling really bad as it is regardless of us both working, im not some lazy dole bum who is just making crap up for the sake of it!
• Perhaps you could contact them again and ask if it was possible to make reduced payments ?
• i admit it is very inconvenient, but as the debt involvrd s budgeting loan, it will be easy enough to clear up.
  they need to show you his signature on a letter accepting the budgeting loan.
  if they can't, then they have no proof
• I think the OP said originally that the address the DWP wrote to was one the husband lived at prior to claiming JSA and not since. How would the DWP have got this address? Surely they should have written to him at the address where he claimed JSA and, alledgedly, took out the budgeting loan? Strange situation.
• Does your husband have a relative with the same name?